Strawberries and Cream Jibbsfest
by jibbsloversunited
Summary: Another round of Jibbsfest, with lashings of strawberries and cream.
1. Welcome

Welcome to another round of Jibbsfest! The prompts this time were:

Strawberries and cream

A tape measure

Semaphore

ER

Jibbsfest Secret Santa opens very soon!

If anyone is interested in participating in a future round, feel free to introduce yourself on the forum (Forums – TV – NCIS – Jenny&Gibbs – Jibbsfest) or PM me (MissJayne).


	2. Strawberries & Cream LeftMyHeartInParis

**Title:** Like Strawberries and Cream

**Author:** Left My Heart In Paris

**Rating: **K+

Like Strawberries and Cream 

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was beyond pissed, he was beyond angry, he couldn't even think about Jenny Shepard without his blood boiling; this was because of two things, he was in love with her and they'd had an argument.

He hadn't been his grumpy self since they'd gotten together three months ago; she'd made him smile, laugh, brought him back to being the man he used to be before he'd experienced such heart break, before he'd been shot at more times than he could count on both of his hands, he gone back to being the happy him, well to Jenny anyway, his team had only noticed a small change in him and that was that he'd become less grouchy.

Everything had been going so well, they'd fallen into a routine they were both happy with, working hard all day and getting to spend the evening together only to wake up ridiculously early the next morning and start all over again. They were happy, they were in love, they were who they were only better as they were together.

It had all been going to well though, they wouldn't be them if they didn't fight, it was just part of who they were and they'd perfected how they made up, but now Gibbs knew that he had crossed the line, he knew he'd been in the wrong but why did he have to be the one to say that he was sorry, so he would just work on his boat and drink some bourbon and wait until she walked into his basement and said some things that ended with her kissing him and everything would be forgotten.

With a sigh, he looked around for the tape measure, he saw it under some old sand paper and a saw, being lazy he just pulled the tape measure from under the tower of other objects only he didn't expect the saw to fall in the direction of his arm….

Meanwhile across town Jenny sat in her office on the phone with Sec-Nav who was rabbiting on about something in her ear but she wasn't listening.

She was too busy looking at the picture that she'd put on her desk a couple of weeks ago, finally comfortable about her relationship with Jethro to have a little reminder on her desk that she wasn't alone that she was happy, she had someone who loved her, someone to come home to.

It was a picture from over half a decade ago, it was of she and Gibbs at a café in Paris, she resting her head on his shoulder as they both laughed at something one of them said, neither had realised it had been taken but a local photographer had taken the opportunity to capture a moment of two people really in love, showing what the city of love was all about and of course they'd given Jenny and Gibbs a copy.

Jenny smiled as she reached out and traced her finger over the younger Gibbs' face, it made her realise how time really had passed before her eyes, it made her wonder what life would have been like if she'd never left Gibbs, would they be married by now, would they have kids by now?

She shook her head and then said yes to whatever Sec-Nav was lecturing her about, that was all the past now, that was their old relationship, she had to focus on the now, what they had reclaimed now.

Although after the fight they'd had this morning, she wasn't really sure that there was much left, what he'd said had cut her, she wasn't really sure how it had started but before she knew it he was accusing her of all sorts of thing and bringing up the past that they'd promised they were never going to bring up, she thought they had moved on from her leaving him with only a dear John letter but it seems in anger it brought it up and a lot more. How could he not trust her, she trusted him with everything she had but he couldn't do the same at that made her so mad.

"Don't you agree Jennifer?" Sec-Nav asked her bringing her back to the phone call.

"Ugh of course sir," Jenny decided it was better to agree with him than make him angry and be against him, just as Abby burst into her office, she looked up to the Goth and put a finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet for a moment.

Abby just shook her head and gave her an inpatient look before she started to sign stuff to her, but Jenny shook her head telling the Goth she didn't know how to read sign language.

"Uh huh, of course," Jenny answered her boss again and watched as Abby jumped up and down frantically in front of her.

Abby really needed Jenny's attention and decided to think of a way she could tell her, she thought for a moment before standing straight, puffing out her chest and pretending to hold a coffee cups to her lips, but alas it didn't work, the redhead just shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay sir," Jenny said as she watched Abby walk around her desk before picking up the picture on the edge of her desk and pointing to Gibbs, "Jethro," Jenny spoke aloud, forgetting her boss could hear her on the other end of the phone, her heart began to beat a mile a minute, something was wrong.

"Excuse me Jennifer?" Sec-Nav asked confused from the other end of the phone.

"Nothing sir just something has come up, is there any way we can just wrap this up?" she asked, seeing how worried Abby looked.

"Of course, why don't I just email you the details on Monday," he suggested.

"That would be great," Jenny smiled. "Have a good weekend sir," she said before putting the phone down, "What's wrong with Jethro?" she asked Abby.

"Thank god you had this picture here or I was going to have to resort to flag signals or maybe a smoke signal," Abby said smiling at the picture of the younger couple, ignoring Jenny's question, meaning it wasn't life threatening whatever it was that made Jenny feel a lot better.

"Abs," Jenny said putting her hands on the younger women's shoulders. "What wrong with Jethro?" she asked again, this time Abby saw the worry in their fearless leader's dark green eyes.

"He called Timmy about half an hour ago to take him to the ER," she told Jenny, having ran straight to Jenny upon hearing this.

"What happened?" Jenny asked as she grabbed her coat and handbag, ready to go to the hospital.

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "Timmy said that Gibbs had a deep cut on his arm from a saw or something, it wasn't serious but apparently it needed stitches, I just don't know why Gibbs didn't call you," she said as she began to ramble.

That's when Jenny remembered and went to go and sit on her leather sofa, "Well then I'm sure Tim can drive him home," she said throwing her coat and bag down next to her.

The Goth looked at Jenny with a confused look. "Aren't you going to go to the hospital?" she asked.

Jenny shook her head. "I don't think Jethro would want me there," she told Abby with a weak smile.

"Why?" Abby asked going to sit down next to Jenny on the sofa.

"We had a fight," Jenny mumbled looking down at her expensive shoes.

Abby almost laughed. "The kids don't like it but Mummy and Daddy always fight," she reminded her.

Jenny shook her head. "This was different," she said. "I don't know…" she began but the Goth cut her off.

"Hey," she said standing up in front of Jenny. "Do you love Gibbs?" she asked, of course already knowing the answer.

"Of course I do," Jenny said looking at Abby like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then let's go to the hospital," Abby pulled Jenny up from the sofa before pulling her friend out of the dark lonely office.

Twenty minutes later Gibbs still sat on one of the beds, his jacket hanging off of one shoulder as his other arm was covered in stitches, he had to wait for them to get him some extra prescription drugs to take away the pain and also getting the papers ready for him to be discharged.

He winced when he thought about what happened, he'd been so stupid, he should have seen it all happening, but he was so blinded by his thoughts and anger of the argument with Jenny he'd couldn't be bothered.

Calling Tim had been a decision that had taken him a while to decide, he couldn't drive himself, he didn't want to admit it but he was in too much pain, calling Tony would have meant he'd been tortured with questions, jokes and movie quotes the whole time something he didn't need, Ziva well let's just say he didn't even know if they would make it to the hospital in one piece, Ducky he knew was busy on a date or something so he didn't want to intrude, Abby would be way too hysterical and insist he call Jenny and so Tim seemed the sensible option although now he realised that Tim would probably have called Abby who would have gone and got Jenny.

Jenny, he kind of wished she could be here to kiss him and distract him from being in the hospital and to soothe him with just her touch, he knew she would be angry when she found out that he hadn't called her but he'd already made this decision and now he was having to live with it.

Impatiently his foot tapped on the floor, he looked at the clock on the wall and shook his head, why was everything taking so long? He just wanted to go home, he just wanted to sleep and forget this ever happened, he wanted to go home and sleep beside Jenny but he doubted that that would happen.

He heard a light knock on the door and looked up from his feet and couldn't help but smile upon seeing his beautiful redhead. "Jenny," he mumbled her name having to swallow his smile.

She gave him a small smile as she walked into the room. "I'm so…." she began but he cut her off.

"Don't Jen, it was my fault, I was out of line," he told her. Jenny smiled knowing that was as close as she was going to get to an apology from the man that had a rule against saying sorry.

Jenny nodded before stepping closer to him. "You okay?" she asked as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and help him close to her, his good arm going around her waist, pulling her close to him.

"I am now," he mumbled as she began to run her hands through his hair hoping to take away some of his pain, neither noticing that they had two onlookers.

Outside the little hospital room Tim and Abby stood looking through the door, Abby leant slightly against Tim. "They're good together," Tim commented as they watched Jenny and Gibbs talk, laugh, hug and even share a small kiss.

"They belong together," Abby said with a smile. "Like peanut butter and jam," she commented.

"Ham and cheese," Tim added.

"Bourbon and steak," Abby almost laughed thinking of the couple.

"Like strawberries and cream."

Like Jenny and Gibbs.


	3. Strawberry ER fashiongirl97

**Title: **Strawberry ER

**Author: **Fashiongirl97

**Rating: **K+

**Disclaimer: **NCIS is not mine

Strawberry ER

It was the perfect day. The warm summer sun was shining down, there was just the odd fluffy cloud floating across the bright blue sky. The night's dew had long dried up and children were playing happily on the streets. Jenny thought the day was absolutely perfect. Or at least it was to begin with, that was until she had ended up in Washington DC ER whilst her long time Agent and boyfriend had stitches put above his eye. _Well_, she thought to herself, _it had started out well at least…_

_Earlier that day _

Jenny Shepard stood in the master bedroom of his house looking in the full length mirror she had found in his attic. The room had rarely been used up until a year ago when she had returned into his life – for good. After Paris they had remained together, steeling every moment together they could yet they barely seeing one another, and it had ended up being a strained relationship that was on the verge of collapse. Then she'd been offered the job as Director of NCIS and now she was back in Washington DC where she had began all those years ago. Living in his house, sleeping in his bed . . . and he was a lot happier than he had been in a very long time.

It was Independence Day: July 4th, and for once this pair was not working. NCIS had been reduced to minimal skeleton staff for the special day, and Jenny was not one of those who was required to be in. Yet they weren't spending the day at home as he would have preferred, it was never that easy. Today she and Jethro would be going to a big field outside of the city and where there was to be a big Armed forces family picnic day. It was set on a hill, you brought you own food and a picnic blanket, played games and then there was a Semaphore flag performance to watch.

When Jenny had told Jethro that she had been ordered to attend, even just for a couple of hours, to show that NCIS was in support of the armed forces - he had not been impressed. Recently they had both been worked off of their feet and so barely been home at the same time, so them being out on the one day they were both home was not ideal. But with it being for the Armed forces he had not sulked for too long, with the additional assistance of bribery from Jenny. After all he was still a Marine through and through.

She looked in the mirror and smiled at her outfit. It was warm outside, so she had on a lemon dress with a matching lemon lace top layer. Around her waist was a skinny tan belt, she also had tan wedge heeled sandals on, and wooden jewellery. Her hair was down and loose and there was a denim jacket over the back of the chair for her. Smiling she checked the clock beside the bed and realised it was time that they left. So picking up her jacket she made her way downstairs to find her partner. Yet finding the downstairs empty made she decided to make her way down into the basement.

"Jethro!" she stated, glaring at the fact he was down working in the basement on the one day she had asked him ever so nicely not to be covered in sawdust. Jenny made her way down the rickety wooden steps which she had nearly broken her neck on hundreds of times over the years. "Have you seen the time?" she asked. As he stood there measuring pieces of wood on the floor of his basement, surrounded by sawdust. The sight made her internally groan, even if she did find him working with his hands a massive turn on.

"Yeah Jen, I was waiting for you," he stated before standing up and brushing the sawdust off of his jeans before looking at her. His eyebrows rose as he took in the way she was dressed for the outing. "You're wearing _that_?" he asked, astonished.

"What is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Jenny questioned, eying him carefully as to figure out his motive on the situation.

"Well Jen, it's only a picnic," he stated.

"I am aware Jethro!"

"Well I'm not sure I should be letting you out Jen," the former Marine stated, with a wicked smirk and she just rolled her eyes before walking back up the stairs. Running up behind her he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back so she was flush against him and he could begin attacking her neck with his lips.

"Hey! I don't want to wear a scarf you know!" she warned him, in between laughing her head off as he continued his attack.

"Hmm . . . you sure we actually have to go?"

"Yes! Now put your tape measure away and get your ass up these stairs now." And with that she somehow managed to tear herself away from him and walk up the stairs, both of them smiling like two love struck teenagers. And whilst she went, his eyes remained firmly on her, watching her slender figure go and remembering just how lucky he was to have her in his messed up, mad and busy life. She was almost the umbrella in a rain storm.

Once she had disappeared from view he smiled to himself and set his tape measure down before following in her footsteps. At the top of the stairs he looked around the basement to make sure he hadn't left anything before turning the light out and doing as she told him to do. "I'm here," he shouted through the house.

"Good, because it is about time!" And with that she winked at him and walked out, making him roll his eyes and wish that for once they could do something that SecNav hadn't forced them to do. But that was her job, and their relationship had very nearly been lost to it, and he wasn't about to make it a rift once more. So instead he followed her out the door, not locking it behind him. Because even though Jenny was there it was still a place that was always open for his team.

When he sat in the car she was on the phone to SecNav, and he just rolled his eyes and set off. Outside was bright and sunny, Gibbs decided he couldn't really moan, it was only a picnic anyway, and it was all for a good cause. Then, when it was over he would get Jenny all to himself once more. So instead of winging and wining and annoying the hell out of her he just shut up and left her to her phone call as he drove along the familiar streets.

Everything had perfect up to and past that point, they'd arrived there, set up, and sat on the picnic blanket listening to the music. Jenny had done her job and walked around, talking to the families as SecNav expected. She'd even spoken to all the high ranking men with wandering hands. Gibbs on the other hand had simply glared at anyone and everyone who decided to lay their eyes on Jenny.

It was in fact later on, when they were sat watching the cadets do Semaphore that things started to take a turn for the worst.

Jenny had finally returned to him, after her wander around, and was sat on the rug beside him, or more like laid on top of him. They were both watching the young cadets, and eating strawberries and cream from the stand. Jethro had at first being telling Jenny each letter and word that was spelt out. That was, until, she hit him and told him to stop patronising her as she was a grown woman, also that she had been brought up on bases around the country so knew how to understand Semaphore. Gibbs had just laughed, which had earned him another smack.

It was once he'd sat up, searching for something that it happened. It had been hilarious until Jenny had seen the blood. A child had thrown a Frisbee, which instead of flying to his waiting mother, had hit Jethro. The thing was it had been a plastic one, with unusually sharp corners. "Dammit!" Jethro had sworn when it hit him.

"Sorry mister," the child had said when he went to get his Frisbee back. Jethro had brushed it off, but then Jenny had seen the blood.

"Jethro that is deep!"

"I'm fine."

"You need stitches."

"Ducky will do them," he said.

"No, Ducky is busy with his mother, you're going to have to go to ER."

"Jen-"

"No, swallow your pride for once and come on."

"Is everything alright? I'm really sorry," said the child's mother walking over.

"It's fine just needs a band aid. Kids will be kids," said Gibbs, or more like grumbled as he felt a headache come on.

"My gosh! Is all that blood from the Frisbee?"

"Yeah," said Jenny who had passed Gibbs a cloth napkin to press to his forehead.

"Can I do anything?"

"No, just enjoy your day," Jenny replied honestly, before the two left. The drive over to the hospital was full of the pair bickering about whether he needed stitches. An hour later Jenny was proved to be right; the stitches were applied and she sat there glaring at him.

_Present_

The doctor left the room, he was a tall dark haired man who had Jenny not been with the love of her life would have seemed attractive to her. Only now she barely gave him a second glance. Instead she was too bothered about glaring at her special agent who was sat on the edge of a hospital bed waiting to be given some cream to apply daily to the wound. He looked at her and rolled his eyes. The glare on her face was one which if directed at someone else would have made him proud. "What!?" he questioned defensively.

"It was not nothing!" she stated, calmly with an edge of annoyance.

"It was fine Jen. Ducky could have done it on Monday."

"Jethro, three stitches would not wait until Monday."

"Would."

"Stop being petulant! If you hadn't just had your head sewn up I'd headslap you into tomorrow!"

"Really Jen?"

"So much for a peaceful day out!" She mumbled under her breath as she took the prescription from the doctor and grabbed her jacket.

"Could still be perfect," the silver haired former Marine stated, giving her a smirk which only meant on thing.

"You need to take it easy. No fast movements, lots of fluids," she stated, knowing whatever she said would only get a smart reply back.

"Never said it had to be fast Jen," the redhead rolled her eyes and walked out. She knew him all too well, and that by the end of the evening he would have gotten what he wanted, and that she wouldn't have done too badly either.

"You're relentless!"


	4. Strawberries Fluff IluvMonkeys

**Title: **Strawberries, Fluff, & A TV Debate

**Author:** IluvMonkeys

**Rating:** K+

Jenny Shepard stumbled down her steps in groggy irritation, pulling her robe tighter around herself.

The one day she decided to take off in months—the one day she actually expected to get more sleep than was inappropriate for anyone other than an insomniac—and _this_ happened.

"I'm coming!" she snapped loudly over her puppy's barking at whoever had the audacity to bang on her front door. "Be quiet, Puppy," she scolded the Pembroke/Eskimo mix.

Abby had rescued him from the pound and been keeping him in her office for weeks before Jenny found out about it: a testament to just how little she ventured into the lab. There had been a lot of begging and puppy dog eyes—both on Abby's part and the dog's. Somehow Jenny had ended up taking him. He grew on her. His name was actually _Hushpuppy_. Apparently he came when anyone called it. He had probably heard it so much he thought it was his name—rambunctious little bastard. Who was Jenny to tell him otherwise; but she outright refused to call the dog after a deep-fried, little round ball of cornmeal so she dubbed him Puppy.

She stood on her toes to peer through the peephole at her front door while Puppy continued with his growling and barking. She made a growl low in her throat to rival the dog's at seeing none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs standing on her doorstep; and swung the door open with a sleepy glare.

"What?" she demanded; and he gave her the most irritating smirk. She followed him with her gaze as he bent over to pick up the dog who was now wagging his tail happily upon seeing a familiar face.

"You called me," he reminded her, scratching behind the dog's ears.

"I don't recall," she contradicted him monotonously, taking the puppy out of his arms.

"You just plannin' to let your kitchen sink keep leaking?" he asked, raising a brow at her skeptically; and her eyes fell to the tool belt in his hand.

She bit her lip.

"Ah," she said softly, stepping aside to allow him in with an abashed smile.

She hadn't been home in two days; and she had been so swamped with work before that she had forgotten about the sink. Noemi mentioned something about it in passing the night before, but Jenny had merely murmured in acknowledgement before she crawled into bed.

"What're you still doing in pajamas?" he tossed over his shoulder as they walked into the kitchen.

She lifted her face out of Puppy's neck though she still hugged him to her.

"Sleeping," she snapped lightly. He raised a brow at that and set his tools in the kitchen counter. "I'm not you, Gibbs," she informed him haughtily. "I don't survive on coffee and bourbon for three days then pass out under a boat."

"Damn straight," was his arrogant response and she fixed him with a mild glare. "Where's your housekeeper?" he asked as she set her dog on the ground and grabbed a note off of the counter with a small shrug.

"Store," she said simply, setting the pink slip of paper back down before she plucked a strawberry from the plate on the edge of the counter.

He grunted in acknowledgement as he laid down on the floor and slid under the sink. He watched in amusement as Jenny pulled her fridge open and grabbed a can of Redi-Whip off of the top shelf, squirting it into her mouth in a rather undignified manner.

"Some guys get turned on by that," he informed her, his voice low with desire and just enough teasing to make her smirk.

She murmured agreement around the whipped cream and swallowed.

"Do they really?" she asked, shaking the can before she squirted it onto the side of the plate and dipped a strawberry into it. She stuck the tip in her mouth and let it rest between her teeth a moment before she bit down.

"_No off the job_," was what she had said, though she and Gibbs were slowly but surely making it back to the easy, teasing, flirtatious relationship they had once had—before Marseille, before Paris, before everything.

He brought her dinner late at night, and she didn't care if he saw her walking around in her pajamas with no makeup on at eleven 'o clock in the morning.

Hardly ten minutes later, the sound of jingling keys and rustling bags signaled Noemi's return.

She saw Gibbs first as she walked into the kitchen, seeing him with his hand on the faucet handle.

"Oh, Senor Gibbs," she greeted him in surprise. "You are fixing the sink?" she asked, setting the bags on the counter.

"Nope," he said, "Fixed it."

Jenny stepped into view, out of the walk in pantry; and Noemi gave a start of surprise.

"Senora," she laughed breathlessly, holding a hand to her heart. "You scare me."

"I didn't mean to, Noemi," Jenny apologized, sticking with Gibbs tried and true Rule Number Six.

Noemi's eyes fell on the plate sitting on the counter that had once been full of berries and held only the barest traces of red juice anymore.

"Oh!" Noemi exclaimed, thrusting her hand out in distress. "The berries. Senora," she sighed in exasperation, knowing full well it was Jenny who had eaten them.

Jenny bit her lip in amusement at her housekeeper' ability to get flustered over the littlest things.

"I'll slice new ones, Noemi," Jenny assured her.

"No, no," Noemi sighed, waving her off; and Jenny grabbed Jethro by the arm, pulling him out of the kitchen with her, leaving her dear housekeeper to her grumblings.

"That all you need fixin'?" he asked with his usual air of smug amusement when he looked at her.

"You could put up some shelves in my bedroom," she said, leaning casually against the banister with her arm crossed under her ribs.

He nodded almost imperceptibly, but she swore his smirk grew as he waited there for her to lead the way. _As if he didn't know how to get there himself. _She gave him a pointed look with narrowed eyes and pushed away from the banister as she headed up the steps with him behind her.

She walked into the bedroom, closely followed by Gibbs who took one look at the mess on the floor and looked back at her skeptically. She turned to him with a smirk.

"They don't tell you redecorating isn't in the NCIS Director's schedule," she joked.

"You sleep in here?" he asked skeptically, squatting beside the unassembled shelves with his eyes on her.

"Guest room," she replied; and he nodded, picking up one of the flimsy looking shelves.

He swung it up with one hand like it was a log and pointed it at her.

"This thing'll last you less than a year," he said almost disdainfully.

"Well not everyone can chop down the biggest tree in the forest and build them with their bare hands, Bob the Builder," she shot back; and he smiled.

"Where are you putting them?" he asked, and she nodded to the wall right of her bed. "How many?" he asked, sizing up the space there.

"Three," she decided, looking at the shelf parts on her floor. "I need another one."

She watched him curiously as he set the shelf on the ground and moved to his feet, walking in the direction of the space she had pointed out. He pulled a tape measure off of his belt and her curiosity grew; and the more her curious she grew, the narrower her eyes got until finally she demanded—

"What are you doing?"

"I'll make you three," he said, turning back to her. "How big do you want 'em?"

A blank look of shock flashed across her face before a smile settled there.

"I don't know," she murmured, sauntering across the floor toward him with her arms crossed, looking down the width of the wall. "Make three of them fit," she said with a shrug; and he smirked at the simplicity of her answer.

"How tall do you want 'em, Jen?" he snorted.

"Short enough for me to reach," she said.

"May as well be cupboards," he quipped; and she punched him in the arm—because she couldn't reach his shoulder without her heels—before she turned back to face the wall, though she still managed a glare out of the corner of her eye.

"So make Goddamn cupboards," she snapped; and he laughed.

"What do you want to drink?" Jenny asked later that afternoon, standing in front of her open refrigerator as she glanced over the food and drinks there. She had since taken a shower and changed into lounging clothes: an old sweater that fell down on one shoulder from years of washes and well-wear, and a pair of calf-length yoga pants. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

"Doesn't matter," Jethro grunted. What he wanted was a tumbler of bourbon, but it wasn't quite 5:00 yet.

Jenny smirked knowingly, and set a glass of water in front of him. He nodded in thanks. He didn't have any reason to be there—but he was—and she hadn't asked him to leave yet. It wasn't like he was missing anything. There was just an empty house, a boat, and a little too much bourbon for one person.

He watched her stand on the tips of her toes, stretching so that one leg lifted off the ground in what he assumed were her efforts to reach the box of popcorn; and his eyes settled on the curve of her butt.

"Stop staring at my ass," she said, slightly breathless from all her stretching as she managed to knock the popcorn box down by swiping at it with the tips of her fingers. It fell into her hands and she shut the cabinet back before she turned to see him smirking smugly at her.

"Shouldn't have worn those pants," he retorted, and she pursed her lips with narrowed eyes though the corners of her lips turned up in amusement.

"They are comfortable," she said, tossing a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Why do you have everything so high, Jen?" he asked, wondering why all of the things in her house seemed to be about three inches too high for her to reach.

"Because I'm usually three inches taller," she said, looking down at her feet—missing the black pumps that usually seemed to be glued there. "You leaving?" she asked when he got up and set his glass in the sink.

"You want me to leave?" he asked, and she raised a brow.

"If I wanted you out of my house, I would have told you to get out of my house," she retorted, and he smirked. "You will be leaving by the end of the night, however," she murmured pointedly with a bedeviling smirk before he reached under her cabinet for a large bowl and Jethro brazenly glanced at her backside again.

"We watchin' a movie or something'?" Jethro asked as Jenny dumped the bag of popcorn into the bow.

"No," she replied simply, plucking a piece of the buttery snack out of the bowl and popped it in her mouth.

She grabbed the bowl and walked past him without another word. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and followed behind her into the living room. He watched as she turned on the television and grabbed her computer. A red screen came up with the words 'Netflix' in white.

"What the hell is Netflix?" he demanded, taking a seat on the couch after her and she laughed.

"It's part of the lovely invention called the Internet," she quipped, pulling up the search bar.

"How're you doing that?" he asked, as the same thing happened on the television.

"That black cord," she said, pointing to the auxiliary cable that connected her laptop and her computer. "I had to improvise when I couldn't use the television in my room anymore."

"I hate computers," he muttered, and Jenny snorted. She typed in the letters E.R. and the television show by the same name came up on her screen. Jethro growled low in his throat. "We have to watch this?" he demanded. _Damn Clooney._

"Yes," she said without remorse and she had to choose one of the earlier episodes.

"Clooney in this one?" he asked as the opening credits started to play.

"Why do you think we're watching it?" she teased. "I'm certainly not watching Chicago Hope?"

"What's wrong with Chicago Hope?" he shot back, and Jenny looked up at him in amusement.

"The lead reminds me too much of you," she said before turning back to the screen as a woman with jet black hair announced herself as Carol Hathaway. "It's weird."

"Nah," he said, watching Carol give the room of doctors a run down of some brain-dead kid's condition. "Liked Jeremy though."

"Surprising," she murmured with a smug smirk. "She was blonde."

"Looked like you," he said, and Jenny paused the television show, turning to him incredulously.

"She was _blonde_," she said pointedly, and he shrugged. "She does not look like me," she insisted, settling back into the couch and started the show again. "And she had a boy name."

"Nicer than you," he said, and she jabbed him in the ribs sharply with her elbow. "Hated when she cut her hair," he added, and Jenny glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

She got the feeling he wasn't talking entirely about Jeremey Hanlon.

"Jack took notice didn't he?" she asked pointedly, and a thought dawned on her. "Jenny and Jethro: Jeremey and Jack, how cute," she murmured sarcastically as Susan Sarandon appeared on screen.

"We're doctors now?" he quipped and Jenny laughed softly.

Jenny woke with a start three hours later, and Jethro looked down as she peeled herself away from his side and looked around blearily.

"What time is it?" she mumbled hoarsely and cleared her throat, yanking her hair tie so that her bun fell and she raked her hands through her hair.

"2130," he said, and Jenny blinked, trying to convert that to normal time through her groggy cognition.

She had fallen asleep after about the second episode of E.R. without George Clooney.

"9:30?" she asked, and he nodded, looking at her with an amused smirk.

She was funny when she first woke up—mostly because she never meant to fall asleep when she did, and she always woke up looking confused.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, her voice still slightly hoarse with sleep as she narrowed her eyes at the screen. A man was waving flags in some sort of pattern.

Jethro shrugged. He wasn't really watching it. He had just started flipping through channels, and that was the least obnoxious thing to listen too—sadly.

"Semaphore," he said, answering her unspoken question, and she nodded. "Messaging system."

"Always wondered what that was," she murmured, holding her hand up to her mouth when a yawn escaped her throat.

"Go to sleep, Jen," he said, turning the television off.

He knew she hadn't been sleeping lately. It wasn't hard to see.

"I'm fine," she said: her usual mantra.

He moved to his feet and held his hand out expectantly.

"Come on," he said.

She smiled and took the offered hand so that he could pull her to her feet as well.

"Rather keen on getting me into bed, Jethro?" she teased, and he simply placed his hand on the small of her back and led her up the stairs.

He stopped outside of her bedroom, and she tilted her head to the side with a nostalgic smile.

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against her forehead.

"Good night, Jen," he said, and she bit her lip.

"There was a time when I would have asked you to stay," she murmured. He remained silent. He gave no reaction other than a raised brow to her loaded statement. "Do I have to _ask_ you to stay, Jethro?" she asked, hoping she wasn't making a fool of herself.

"That what you want?" he asked uncertainly. Things were good between them. He didn't want to ruin it over one night.

"Stay," she said, looking up at him, her eyes darkening as her lip curved into a small smile. He gave an almost imperceptible nod, and she flashed him a pleased grin. "Good, you can take the couch. There are pillows and blankets in the closet downstairs," she said, and watched his left eye twitch in a confused before he raised knitted brows.

"Jen," he growled.

"I'm kidding," she soothed, and gave shriek of delighted surprise when he snatched her off her feet and into his arms. "Jethro," she laughed, tossing her head back.

Her laughter faded behind the slamming of the door as Jethro kicked it shut, and Jenny could only hope that her housekeeper had not come back that night for the green umbrella left in the foyer.


	5. Latches MissJayne

**Title:** Latches

**Author:** MissJayne

**Rating:** K+

"JETHRO! JETHRO!"

"...up here..."

"Jethro? Jethro!"

"In here. The spare room."

"Before I come in, please tell me you're not in a puddle of blood."

"...I'm not in a puddle of blood?"

"Sheesh. How bad is it?"

"...I'm not in a puddle of blood."

"I refuse to come in until you tell me what's wrong. I'm sitting down on the floor directly outside the room now. Explain the purpose of your text message. You can't just quote Rule 32 at me and expect me to drop everything. It's not to be quoted lightly."

"_Rule 32. If you injure yourself doing something stupid, you can drive yourself to the ER."_

"I know the rule; you taught it to me. _Explain_."

"..."

"I can wait here for longer than you, especially if you're injured. You implied an injury..."

"..."

"I haven't got all day."

"..."

"That's enough; I'm not going to play games with you. I'm leaving –"

"_Fine._"

"Start talking."

"No idea why you left Interrogation, Jen. You can still get people to talk."

"Stop bringing up my decision to climb the ranks and _talk_."

"...I did mention I'm doing up the spare room, didn't I?"

"Last month, after you _borrowed_ a step ladder from my house and failed to tell me."

"You didn't have to get Abby to run the forensics."

"Did I mention the '_failed to tell me_' part? I assumed someone had broken in and bypassed my security. Of course I got Abby to investigate!"

"...do we have to bring this up now?"

"You started it."

"...I thought I'd redo the whole thing. Paint the walls, put up shelves, sort out the door. So I took off the door handle to replace it, but left it off while I did a few other things."

"Why do I get the feeling I know where this is going?"

"But I did remember! If the door handle is only on one side, you can't open it from the other if it gets shut. The latch can't be moved."

"Why do I suspect you called me because you _can't _get out of that room?"

"...hey Jen, you mind opening the door?"

"Not until you tell me the rest of the story."

"No need to sound so frustrated. I used a tape measure to prop the door open, and it was fine until I forgot why it was there and brought it into the room to measure something."

"And the door shut behind you and you got stuck. I don't see why you texted me. I know this is the second floor, but you're not exactly the type to ask for help. You'd rather go out the window and risk breaking your limbs... Please tell me you haven't broken anything."

"I haven't broken anything..."

"...sometimes I wonder why your team put up with you. It's like pulling teeth. Explain how you came to be injured."

"_Fine_. You were right; I tried to go out the window. But I slipped. Unfortunately I slipped back in rather than out."

"Only _you_ would consider slipping back inside the house to be worse than falling a storey and breaking your legs."

"I wouldn't have had to call for help..."

"_Exactly_."

"...Jen?"

"Yes."

"You still there?"

"No, I left."

"Then why aren't you coming through the door? I explained. Jen? Hey, stop laughing!"

"I can't help it!"

"You're an evil woman, enjoying this."

"Ah, you have to take your pleasures where you can. Hmm... It's a wonder you didn't try semaphore on Mrs Perry next door instead of texting me for help."

"Yes, Mrs Perry. The little old lady who was probably celebrating her hundredth birthday when the Civil War ended. The one who came over to object when she saw me gardening in my own back yard without a shirt during that heatwave because I was '_indecently attired_'. Ya think she knows semaphore?"

"She was probably alive when it was invented."

"Yeah."

"..."

"...Jen? You ever going to come through this door?"

"Perhaps. Do you know what you called me away from?"

"...you want a conversation? Through a door?"

"If it's the only way to get you to talk to me, then it would appear so."

"...what were you doing?"

"Funny you should ask. I was at Ducky's. He somehow persuaded Agent McGee to rig up a live satellite feed of the tennis at Wimbledon. We were watching the semi final. With the traditional strawberries and cream."

"Oh, _that _explains the smell. I couldn't work out what it was. You brought yours with you."

"And a portion for you."

"Open the damn door, Jen!"

"...how injured _are _you? Oh, stop growling. You can have yours. Eventually. Although I may eat both portions –"

"I twisted my knee! I can hobble but there's no way I can get out the window. Now let me out!"

"That wasn't so painful, was it? See, here I am, strawberries and cream intact."

"Move, move."

"Hey, what's the hurry?"

"Been stuck in here two hours, need the bathroom... wait, Jen! Grab the door!"

"No!"

"No! Sheesh, how could you _not_ hold the door open?"

"You were the one who got stuck in here in the first place. And if you hadn't tried to hurry me out of your way..."

"We're stuck."

"No we're not. This time _I'm _going out the window. Don't eat my strawberries."

"I wouldn't dare."

"I heard that! Just hold on; imagine what Mrs Perry will say when she sees a redhead in a miniskirt climbing out of your spare bedroom window..."


	6. Of Ice Cream and BandAids OrtonsMistress

**Title:** Of Ice Cream and Band-Aids

**Author: **OrtonsMistress

**Rating:** K+

* * *

It was a rare occasion that Jenny would actually beat Gibbs off work, but that was exactly what happened that hot August night. Deciding to go by the house and get Catie from Noemi, she was planning a trip to the ice cream shop that they both loved and some time at the park. Letting Melvin know of the evening's plans, she requested to have him hang a little further back from them so she could enjoy her time with Catie. He escorted her to her car and helped her inside.

* * *

"Mama!" Catie exclaimed, seeing Jenny walk into the house.

Barely having enough time to set her things down on the table, Jenny bent down and scooped her daughter up in her arms. "Hey there baby girl."

"Go park t'day?" She asked hopefully, her green eyes shining. This was the same question the almost three year old had been asking all week when Jenny would get home. Each time the shining eyes and hopeful look would dissipate with her answer.

"Yeah baby girl, we're going to the park today," she replied and she could have sworn her eyes lit up more than they already were. "We'll stop at the little ice cream store on our way as well."

"Yay!" She exclaimed, as Jenny kissed the top of her head and set her down. "Daddy goin' too?"

"No honey, he's still at work," She replied, before heading toward the stairs. "Let mama go change and we can go."

"'kay," Catie replied, as she sat on the bottom step to wait for her.

* * *

By the time Jenny and Catie got halfway to Coleman Park, the Strawberries and Cream ice cream Catie loves, was all over her face and shirt.

"How do you end up wearing more of your ice cream than you actually eat, I will never understand," Jenny laughed, grabbing the extra shirt and wipes that she carried with her for instances like this.

"Mama, what that guy doing?" She asked, as Jenny was trying to wipe her hands and face off.

"What guy?"

Pointing out the window she answered. "Him, on the moto'cycle."

Looking up, Jenny could see a man around Gibbs age, riding on an obviously expensive red and black Harley Davidson and using old semaphore hand signals to the few other bikes behind him.

"Well sweetie, he's using hand signals so his friends that are riding behind him know what lane they need to be in," she answered, trying to keep it on an easy level that she could understand.

"Oh," came her simple reply, as all else was forgotten when Melvin turned into the lot for the park. "Let's go Mama!"

"Hold on little miss," she said, as she started undoing the snaps on the car seat. "I need to change your shirt before we get out."

"Okay," she huffed, clearly displeased that her park adventure would be halted for another minute.

While changing Catie's shirt, Jenny kissed her on her cheek before getting out and grabbing her hand, as they headed over to the swing set.

* * *

Gibbs was down in the basement, looking over some measurements he had for a play set he was going to start building Catie for the next year. Grabbing the tape measure, he was measuring out what the width of the play set would take up in the basement, when his phone started to ring.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered, letting the tape measure roll back up, before tossing it on his work bench.

"Jethro," Jenny said, and it was clear by the sound of her voice that she had been crying.

Hearing the tears caught up in her voice, and the hysterical crying of their daughter, it immediately set his gut churning. "Jen, what's wrong?"

Knowing she needed to calm herself down, before she could calm the cries from Catie; she took a deep breath before she started talking. "I brought Catie to the park, and while I was pushing her on the swing, one side of the chains broke and she fell and busted her chin open. Melvin is driving us to Bethesda now," she rushed out, sounding almost like Abby on a Caf-Pow rush.

"I'll meet you there," he replied, snapping his phone shut and running upstairs.

* * *

By the time Gibbs made it to the ER at Bethesda, Catie was just being called back to a room. Going over and taking her gently from Jenny's shaking arms, he led his girls back to the exam room.

Once the nurse had gotten them situated in the room, a bubbly young intern came in and asked. "What seems to be the problem tonight?"

"I felled off a s'ing," Catie mumbled, still holding the handkerchief that Melvin had given her to her chin.

"We were at Coleman Park and the swing she was in, the chain links on the left side snapped at the top and that's when she went down," Jenny explained a little more clearly.

"All right," the doctor nodded, moving around to grab some supplies. "We'll get this cleaned up to prevent any infection. Then we will know more if she needs stitches or not."

"Thank you doctor," she replied, while Gibbs was saddled with the unenviable task of keeping Catie still and calm, while the doctor tried to make quick work of cleaning the wound.

By the time the doctor got the wound cleaned up, Catie had calmed down considerably. "Okay Mr. Gibbs, I will need you to help hold Catie completely still. I have to administer a S..H..O..T to help numb the area so I can do the stitches."

"Okay," he replied, as he held her down gently, placing his hand on her forehead to hold her still.

"Ahh!" Catie screamed, tearing at Jenny's heart again. "Daddy no!"

"It's okay sweet pea, it's almost over," he whispered, leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

Once the doctor finished with the shot, she turned and looked at Jenny. "Now we will give this about ten minutes to kick in, then I will be back to start stitching this up.

"Thank you," Jenny said, as she went to stand beside Catie again. "You are my brave sweet girl."

"She'll be fine Jen," Gibbs said, reaching across and taking her hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

* * *

By the time Gibbs, Jenny and Catie got home, the toddler had finally fallen asleep. She had received eight stitches to close up the gash on her chin.

"Jethro, I can't believe I let this happen," Jenny said, as she climbed into bed beside him, once they'd gotten Catie changed and tucked into her bed.

Pulling her over to him, Gibbs kissed her gently and chuckled at her logic, "Jen, she's a toddler, it's bound to happen. Now the way that it happened probably isn't that typical, but childhood battle scars are something she can walk around and wear proudly."

"I know, but I just feel bad," she said, curling up beside him. "She was with me and I let her get hurt."

"Stop blaming yourself," he said, making her look him in the eye. "It could have just as easily been me that she was with."

"All right," she replied, leaning in and kissing him. "Love you Jethro."

"Love you too Jen."


End file.
